The Big Sur we all dream about : Why some residents are delighted that Highway 1 collapsed
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Rat Creek, Big Sur, Calif., Jan. 31, 2021. Highway 1.Kodiak Greenwood
In late January, an atmospheric river dumped heavy rains over the Dolan Fire scar, triggering a debris flow in Big Sur that overwhelmed drainage infrastructure and carried a giant chunk of Highway 1 thousands of feet down the cliff and into the sea. The dramatic slide left behind a 150-foot chasm where the road once was at mile marker 30, another beautiful stretch of California land reclaimed by the elements.
Friends and family members living on opposite sides of the hole were separated. Residents living to the south were cut off from basic services, schools and jobs in the north. The postmaster had to start going the long way around, as did angry tourists attempting to visit from or return to LA.
The disaster they were waiting for: Why some in Big Sur celebrated when Highway 1 collapsed Updated: 11:48 AM PST Feb 26, 2021 By Ashley Harrell/SF Gate
The disaster they were waiting for: Why some in Big Sur celebrated when Highway 1 collapsed Share Updated: 11:48 AM PST Feb 26, 2021
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Show Transcript FOR CANCER PATIENTS SOMETIME NEXT MONTH. GULSTAN: TURNING AGAIN TO WEATHER, THE STORM HAS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE IN OTHER PARTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. YOU CAN SEE THE PROBLEM IN THIS PICTURE. A PORTION OF HIGHWAY ONE IN THE BIG SUR AREA FELL INTO THE OCEAN. THE ROAD WAS WASHED AWAY BY A MUDSLIDE. THE DAMAGE IS CLOSE TO MUD CREEK WHERE WE HAVE SEEN BIG MUDSLIDE PROBLEMS BEFORE. THIS STRETCH OF THE HIGHWAY HAS BEEN CLOSED SINCE TUES
Big Sur is still accessible despite Highway 1 damage, avoiding a repeat of 2017 s isolation
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1of4A section of Highway 1 is collapsed following a heavy rainstorm south of Big Sur on Friday Jan. 29, 2021.Kodiak Greenwood/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
2of4Highway 1 is destroyed near Rat Creek after a landslide and heavy rains came through the area on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 in Big Sur, California.Gabrielle Lurie/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
3of4Rain storms caused the washout of Highway 1 near Rat Creek, on Friday, January 29, 2021 in Big Sur, Calif.LiPo Ching/Special to The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
4of4Highway 1 is destroyed near Rat Creek after a landslide and heavy rains came through the area on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 in Big Sur, California.Gabrielle Lurie/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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Big Sur is fed up with selfie tourism. Here s its new plan to transform travel in the region
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Ask anyone who lives in Big Sur about the changes the region has seen in the past five years and they’ll tell you horror stories about photo-obsessed “selfie tourists” clogging Highway 1 at Bixby Creek Bridge parking in the narrow roadway, causing hours-long traffic delays and dangerously posing for pictures on the landmark bridge.
“It’s a goat rodeo,” says Butch Kronlund, executive director of the Community Association of Big Sur especially on holiday weekends, he says. A resident of the famously beautiful region for 31 years, he’s witnessed an alarming regression in visitor behavior since the advent of camera phones and Instagram.